Athena's Midnight Visit

‘At least 50 affection points.’

Over the past week, I’d run all sorts of experiments with the Eye of the Transcendent trait. Even with women, the detailed profiles never appeared for grandmothers or little girls. Through careful testing, I discovered that the information only showed up in the status window—and only triggered the Eye—when the woman was within the right age range and held a certain level of affection toward me. That threshold was none other than 50/100 or higher. My Thousand-Mile Insight and Casanova traits confirmed it when Nadia showered me with praise for my intellect and looks. So I activated the Eye without hesitation.

‘Oh-ho…’ I’d uncovered the profile of the desert’s deadly crimson flower. ‘So my peerless good looks even make a first-time princess of peerless beauty find me attractive.’

60/100 affection. Crossing the 50 mark meant she trusted me—and, more importantly, that she was already drawn to my appearance. ‘She went the Gastmancer route.’

After skimming Nadia’s profile, I checked her stats. The most striking thing was her class: Gastmancer. A Gastmancer was a type of mental manipulator, but her targets weren’t people—they were beasts and monsters. The Summoning skill called forth monsters, while Beast Spirit Control let her dominate their minds. Even though her base stats weren’t all A+, her combat rating reached A+ because the skills themselves were on an entirely different level. For a mage of her caliber, True Mana Sense was passive.

‘Still only A+… probably because she keeps poking at everything instead of focusing. Classic her.’

As the chieftain had said, A+ was an enormous realm. Especially at twenty-three, it would make her the top graduate of the Imperial Academy. But Nadia was a genius who made even that title look trivial. If she’d concentrated on one path, she’d already be S-rank. ‘Anyway, Gastmancer was never my preference. For world conquest, alchemy from the Grace Kingdom route is far superior.’

When I played Otherworld Conquest in Grace Kingdom mode, I always steered the magically talented Nadia toward alchemy. Easy modes were for speed-clearing so I could move on to harder ones. Of course, I’d dabbled in the Gastmancer route during spare moments.

“It was a meaningful conversation. I hope we can discuss proper collaboration next time.”

The talk ended. Athena and I saw Nadia’s party off. Nadia Jasmine offered us an elegant smile and promised a future meeting. After contacting the barbarian tribes for collaboration, she’d found that most weren’t easy to trust in business matters. The Gaia Tribe, however, was a rare crop-focused group among barbarians, so its people were diligent and honest. The only problem was their lack of familiarity with civilization and trade—until my arrival solved it.

“Will you be coming in person, Guild Master?”

“Of course. I only feel satisfied when I control the field directly.”

Nadia presented herself as a workaholic, but to my ears it sounded like she was saying she’d come back to see me again.

“You two said you were childhood friends…”

Nadia climbed into the Lucilka carriage and glanced back at us.

“The vice-guild master seems quite interested in Lord Tessadar.”

With that cryptic remark and an enigmatic smile, the Jasmine caravan departed from the Gaia Tribe.

‘I’m not sure about the face part, but how did Athena take ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠that last comment?’

The day I met Nadia, Athena skipped the chieftain’s tent dinner again. The first time I thought she was genuinely unwell, but three days ago it looked like a protest against me.

“My schedule ended early today, so we can train together.”

After hearing the disaster-management ritual schedule from Grandpa Gandalf and finishing every mandatory task as the new vice-chieftain over the past fortnight, Athena immediately brought up training—as if she’d been waiting for this moment.

“Wouldn’t it be better for you to rest? You’ve been working harder than me helping with my duties.”

“Showing you the Gaia Shield is also part of my job. Inspecting the Gaia Shield is a vice-chieftain’s duty too.”

“That’s true, but let’s rest today and do it tomorrow.”

“You told me to pull out the teeth of the Siakan while we’re at it.”

No matter how I looked at it, she wanted to vent the sharp tension that had built up over the past two weeks through a sparring match with me.

“You’d better be careful. Like I said last time, the reason I got beaten so badly on the first day was because of the bracelets from the Great Mother and my mom.”

I wasn’t the generous type who would endlessly soothe someone’s bad temper just because they were female. When the opponent came at me hard, I hit back even harder—half barbarian blood, after all. After the bare minimum refusal, I coolly accepted Athena’s request. The two of us headed to the Gaia Shield training ground outside the village.

After donning the minimal fist guards, I pointed a finger at Athena. From another perspective, it was also an apology for having been too busy over the past fortnight to even ask how my childhood friend felt, and accepting her request as compensation.

“That’s what I wanted to say. Unlike you, I knew from the start that my opponent was Geum Taeyang, so I held back. This is a place where warriors test their strength. To uphold that value, I’ll defeat you in proper Tessadar fashion.”

“Hoo-hoo. I’ll be looking forward to it, Athena.”

Athena’s words were no empty boast. On the first day she hadn’t used Mana Step or Tyrant’s Fist against me. And the Gaia Shield training ground wasn’t a place where simple martial artists tempered their bodies—it was where warriors who risked their lives to protect the tribe sharpened bone and flesh. Even if they didn’t take real lives, everyone stepped onto it carrying enough killing intent to make it feel that way.

“Come at me.”

Unlike Athena, I had no secret techniques. So I took the stance of a martial artist I’d watched endlessly on the internet in my previous life.

“You look like a weak herbivore!”

—Fwoooosh!!!

With a ground-splitting charge effect, Athena rushed me.

—Boom! Boom!

Athena’s full-speed charge was truly worthy of her reputation. My agility was B+, hers was A. So instead of dodging, I focused on the most efficient guard to absorb her attacks.

‘She’s activating a special skill already.’

Realizing my guard was solid, Athena immediately shifted gears shortly after the fight began. She understood that I was reading her attack routes by watching her preparatory movements and center of gravity. To compensate, she used—

—Shhhk! Shhhk!

‘Isn’t this a bit much even for a fantasy game?’

Using Mana Step, she began devouring my blind spots. As if defying the laws of motion and gravity, Athena of the Gaia Tribe unleashed zero-delay spin moves one after another. This was beyond fantasy or wuxia—it was practically sci-fi.

‘Whoa. That Heavenly Martial Body is something else.’

Because of it, I found myself in a rather precarious situation. Athena’s fists kept coming within inches of my face. But what kind of body did Geum Taeyang possess? It was the Heavenly Martial Body—the one destined to become the supreme being of the martial world. My Heavenly Martial Body trait immediately provided a solution.

It was True Mana Sense. ‘Okay. I can feel exactly how Athena is circulating her mana. Thanks to that, I can read her attacks without needing preparatory movements. This is on a completely different level from ordinary mana sensing.’

Mana Step naturally consumed far more mana than normal attacks. So if one’s mana-sensing ability was excellent, they could read the flow and respond. With True Mana Sense, it became map-hack level. In other words, thanks to the cheat trait Heavenly Martial Body, I had acquired the natural enemy technique of mana movement arts—something only a high-tier magic class like Nadia would possess.

—Boom! Boom! Boom!

“What? You were hiding intermediate mana sensing? How underhanded.”

To Athena, it must have looked like I’d been hiding my mana-sensing skill and then suddenly revealed it. Until just moments ago, my movements had shown no sign of mana sensing at all. Still, she assumed it was merely high-level mana sensing rather than True Mana Sense.

“Isn’t that obvious? Hiding one’s full strength is also strategy and tactics. Just like how you never told me you received secret techniques from the chieftain.”

Even while relying on Heavenly Martial Body, I bluffed as if I’d actually been hiding mana sensing. If I revealed ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠the truth, Athena hadn’t informed me about her secret techniques for an entire week. And that was natural for a warrior of Tessadar’s caliber. Why would she volunteer the information without being asked under proper circumstances? That would be failing as a warrior.

“Reading the secret technique the moment you saw Mana Step… You really do have a good head for battle!”

—Thud!

With her trump cards exposed, Athena took a very heavy thrusting stance. ‘She’s going for Tyrant’s Crushing Strike.’

One of the Tyrant’s Fist techniques—Tyrant’s Crushing Strike. An all-or-nothing blow said to split even giant boulders. How did I know the technique name? I’d heard it in the heroic tales the Great Mother told me as a child. That information had connected with my Thousand-Mile Insight and clicked into place.

‘But before that, there’s the package technique that comes with it.’

Tyrant’s Crushing Strike was incredibly powerful, but its form was large. To compensate for that weakness, a follow-up skill always accompanied it—

—Fwoooosh!!

‘Tyrant’s Presence Suppression!’

A skill that halted the opponent’s movements with the tyrant’s overwhelming aura. As expected, the powerful suppressing force of Tyrant’s Presence Suppression blasted toward me before the Crushing Strike was unleashed.

‘At this distance, I’ll just get hit on the guard and sent flying.’

At that moment, my Thousand-Mile Insight delivered interesting information. Athena wasn’t aiming for a clean hit. She was only trying to create a picture where she roughly suppressed me by striking my guard. ‘In that case, I should counterattack.’

Under that situation, I came up with a rather stylish counter.

“This is the end of our duel!”

—Fwoooosh!!

Amidst it all, Athena’s Tyrant’s Crushing Fist was unleashed.

—Thud!!

I firmly locked my guard over my chest, then—

—Whoosh!

—released it right before the strike landed.

“!!!??????”

Athena’s pupils dilated sharply. It clearly meant she had encountered an unexpected variable outside her calculations.

—Thud!!

But it was too late to stop the Crushing Strike. Athena’s powerful attack extended fully and struck her childhood friend Geum Taeyang’s chest.

“Guhhh!”

—Vwoooom!

Along with Geum Taeyang’s thick scream, his heavy body was sent flying as if it had grown wings.

—Crash! Crash!

He flew roughly five meters and slammed into the training ground floor.

“Hey! Geum Taeyang!”

—Thud thud thud!

Athena ran toward the fallen Geum Taeyang, screaming.

“Cough! Ghh…”

“You could’ve blocked that! Why did you drop your guard, you crazy bastard!”

—Thud!

Athena hurriedly knelt beside Geum Taeyang, lifted his upper body into her arms, and shouted—half angry, half panicked.

“I just wanted to show off my toughness. Heh-heh…”

Even while on the verge of passing out, Geum Taeyang bluffed at her.

“You crazy bastard! Geum Taeyang, you crazy bastard!”

But Athena’s eyes were already brimming with tears, so she couldn’t even mock her mischievous childhood friend’s bluff.

“Feeling better now…? Then I think I’ll pass out for a bit…”

—Smile…

—Kiss…

Geum Taeyang’s eyes were already fading. With a warm smile toward Athena’s tears, he left behind an enigmatic remark and fainted.

‘True revenge? Heh. It’s about breaking the opponent’s intentions and hurting ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠their heart. Perfect.’

—Grin! Grin!

My entire body was battered. The soreness in my guarded arms and shoulders was indescribable, and my waist, thighs, and ankle ligaments had taken damage from reacting to Athena’s Mana Step. So now, lying on the fur rug in my tent in the middle of the night, I was giving myself a massage. Yet despite the miserable state, the triumphant upward curl of my lips refused to be suppressed.

‘That tomboy crying and sniffling in guilt… Serves her right for throwing a tantrum.’

Athena had supported me from the training ground while crying her eyes out as she explained the situation to the Great Mother. She’d wanted to vent the pent-up frustration of the past fortnight by beating me up a little in a spar, but she’d been countered by me playing on top of her head. This counter was possible because my endurance was A-rank. Thousand-Mile Insight had concluded that, with my endurance, the worst that would happen from taking Athena’s Tyrant’s Crushing Strike was fainting.

‘Well, I can’t say I don’t understand that tantrum at all.’

Of course, this risky gamble of mine wasn’t solely to tease Athena. There was a deeper aim. Just as I was diligently self-caring my victory wounds—

“Can I… come in?”

Athena’s voice came through, cautious and completely deflated. In other words, late at night, she had come to my tent alone.